4. In a medium skillet, warm the oil over medium-low heat. Add the red and yellow peppers along with the leek. Cook until the vegetables are soft and nicely browned, stirring occasionally, about 10 – 15 minutes.

Pastry: Combine the all-purpose flour and salt in the food processor and pulse to mix. Cut the cream cheese and butter into cubes; add to the processor. Process until mixture forms a ball. Flatten into a disc; wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.

Filling: Peel (if necessary) and slice the fruit; place in a large bowl. Add berries (if using); toss to combine. Add the lemon juice, 6 tbsp. of the sugar, almond extract and the flour. Mix well.

Assembly: Line the Universal tray with parchment paper.

On a surface lightly dusted with flour, roll the pastry into a circle about 14” in diameter. Transfer the pastry to the prepared Universal tray. Spread the fruit mixture evenly over the pastry, leaving a 1” border around the edge; brush the edge with water. Loosen the pastry and gently flip it up and over the fruit, pleating it like fabric. The middle of the filling will be exposed. Brush any pastry cracks with water and pinch to seal. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tbsp. of sugar over the pastry.

Place the Universal tray on the second runner. Select Combination-Steam.

Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. With Ice Cream!!

Variations: Try peaches, nectarines, plums, rhubarb, apples or pears. Combine with berries of choice, if you like. Increase the sugar in the filling to ½ cup ,if using rhubarb.
Add fresh or candied ginger, cinnamon or whatever spice moves you to the filling.
Substitute vanilla extract for the almond extract.

Gingered Apple and Cranberry Strudel

Sinfully delicious strudel pastry with a dash of spice is always nicePrint

On a clean flat counter, lay out a large cotton tea towel. This is what you will be rolling your strudel on top of.
Lay out one sheet of phyllo and brush with melted butter; just enough to moisten the whole sheet. (You should have the phyllo laid out lengthwise in front of you with the shorter sides to each side)

Scatter cookie crumbs across the buttered sheet. Lay down second sheet of phyllo and repeat butter and crumbs process until you have used up half the pack of phyllo sheets ( about 7- 8 sheets).

Brush last sheet with melted butter and crumbs . Take half of your apple filling and start to lay it lengthwise along your phyllo sheet, leaving about 2.5 inches from the bottom and 1.5 inches from each side.

Using your tea towel to help you, start to roll (from the side closest to you) the pastry over the apple mixture and as best you can, tuck the pastry sheets over the apple mixture and firmly press down, being careful not to tear the dough.

Press the side seams down as well to stop the filling from coming out the sides.

‘Roll back’ the tea towel and you should see that the apple mixture has been covered by this first roll of dough with side seams pressed down. Brush melted butter over all exposed ‘dry’ parts of dough. Once you do this, use the tea towel to help you and continue to roll the apple ‘log’. It is essential to try and keep it as tight a roll as you can while not tearing the dough.

With each roll, be sure to brush melted butter on the dough to keep it moist and pliable.
Once at the end of the roll, ensure that all seams are pressed down firmly and brushed well with butter.

Carefully transfer to a lined tray and score the top of the strudel according to the size of slices you would like to have. This is an important step as it allows the apples to vent while they bake and as well, it aids in portioning the strudel after it has been baked.

Repeat with remaining phyllo dough for second strudel. Wrapped well, they can be frozen and baked from frozen with great results as well. Goes perfectly with with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

When ready to bake, program your Combi-Steam Oven to the following:

Select Combination Steam followed by Convection plus, with temperature at 300F, 60% humidity for 20mins.
Add another stage under Combination Steam with Convection Plus, temperature at 400F, 20% humidity for 15 mins.

Strudels should be golden brown outside and just tender inside. Let cool before portioning.

Combine all sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat and simmer for about 6-8 minutes until it has thickened slightly. Let cool completely. Pour over chicken thighs and marinate for 24 hours.

Place chicken and marinade in Universal Tray and generously pour all marinade over all the chicken. Set the Combination Steam Oven for Combination Steam; Broil, 80% humidity, 35 minutes and place tray on Level 2. Check for doneness.

Drizzle enough olive oil over beets and place on a foil lined tray and cover securely with more foil. Set the oven to Convection Bake 375C for 45 min – 90 min, depending on size. Insert a paring knife into beets; they are ready when there is just slight resistance. Let beets cool till you are able to handle them. Peel them ( the skins should slip off fairly easily) and cut into1 inch pieces. Toss with 4T of honey and 2 T of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast them uncovered under Convection Bake 400C for about 25mins till nicely caramelized.

The Grains:
½ craw couscous
With a ratio of 1:1 water to couscous, steam couscous for 5 minutes, remove and fluff with a fork.
¼ cred quinoa
With a ratio of 2: 1 water to quinoa, steam for 15 minutes, remove and mix with cooked couscous.

To Plate:
Toss salad, orange segments, croutons, sunflower seeds, beets and grains together in a bowl till uniformly mixed. The juices from the beets and oranges will form a lovely base for the dressing of the salad. Garnish each plate with a fried egg and 2 pieces of chicken on the side. As you enjoy, piercing the fried egg will allow the runny yolk to finish dressing the salad.

Using a mallet, pound the chicken to even flatter pieces. Place chicken into a large zip lock bag and add lemon juice, zest, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Close bag and shake it up to mix the marinade and coat the chicken. Refrigerate a few hours or overnight

In a medium bowl, combine olives, sundried tomatoes, red peppers, parsley, salt and pepper. Stir together well and add a few drops of the sundried tomato oil to allow the mixture to stick together. Stir in the goat cheese

Take a chicken breast and lay it out on a work surface. Add a nice portion of the filling to the middle and roll up the breast securing it together with a wooden skewer or toothpicks. Repeat with the remaining pieces and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper

Place in combi-steam. Set 2 cooking modes: 1. 350 degrees with 80% moisture for 10 minutes, 2. 400 degrees with 0% moisture for 15 minutes. Check doneness, and add more time if necessary. Let roulades rest for 5 minutes before slicing